I thought my biggest challenge during maternity leave would be sleepless nights. Then my coworker Emily decided to make it her mission to turn my life upside down.
For months, I’d driven Emily to work. But when I went on leave, she expected my husband, Mark, to take over. “Just ask him!” she pleaded. I refused—our baby needed us, and Mark’s schedule didn’t align with hers.
Emily didn’t give up. She showed up at our house at dawn, demanding a ride. When that failed, she escalated to something unthinkable: stealing our car.
One morning, I woke up to an empty driveway. Panic set in—had we been robbed? Then Emily pulled up in our car like it was no big deal.
“You took it?!” I yelled.
She shrugged. “I needed to get to work.”
The police were ready to arrest her, but Mark, though livid, just told her to leave and never come back.
We changed the locks, installed cameras, and cut ties with Emily completely.
Looking back, it was a wild lesson in standing my ground. No one—not even a pushy coworker—gets to disrupt my family’s peace.
